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  • Welcome to TPMvids Disney Beat where we talk about all things Disney!

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  • Frontierland is one of the 6 themed lands at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

  • It is here that we experience the story of our country’s past.

  • The colour, romance and drama of Frontier America as it developed from wilderness trials,

  • to roads riverboats railroads and civilization.

  • The original Frontierland at Disneyland was born out of Walt Disney’s love for America,

  • and when Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 these same ideas were brought to Florida.

  • The land takes you into the pioneering days of America in the early 19th century.

  • This old western town is famously known for being home to popular attractions like Big

  • Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain, but there’s so much more that makes Frontierland

  • one of the best lands to just go and explore.

  • It has so many secrets and hidden details youve probably never noticed.

  • So today while looking at some history of the land were gonna be counting down the

  • Top 7 Hidden Secrets in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom.

  • Number 7 Frontierland is no secret, but have you ever

  • realized that it’s the only land that isn’t accessible from the hub?

  • When youre walking through the centre of the park, Frontierland is really a hidden

  • land.

  • You need to travel through Adevntureland or Liberty Square to get into this old western

  • Town, but why is that?

  • Well this was an intentional design by imagineers and it all follows a story that starts in

  • Liberty Square.

  • See the buildings in Liberty Square show the architectural progression through Colonial

  • America starting in the 1700s.

  • Since Frontierland is adjacent to Liberty Square, this architectural progression continues

  • showing the western expansion of America through the 1800s.

  • The Diamond Horseshoe is the official transition point from Colonial America into the old west

  • and as you walk between the two lands the transition is seamless.

  • All the buildings in Frontierland are historically accurate right down to the elevated sidewalks.

  • Aside form the sidewalks on Main Street, Frontierland is the only land in Magic Kingdom that has

  • raised walkways.

  • Back in old western towns, the roadways were always really dirty, full of mud and dust,

  • so raised wooden sidewalks were used to keep people’s boots and dresses clean when they

  • were walking through the town.

  • And speaking of this town, at the top of some of the buildings in Frontierland youll

  • notice a number.

  • The number is actually significant and actually represents the year of the building’s architectural

  • design.

  • So on Grizzly Hall youll see its from 1898, Town Hall from 1867 and the Saloon from 1878.

  • Number 6 If you look across the Rivers of America youll

  • see Harper’s Mill on Tom Sawyer Island.

  • This water wheel has sort of become an iconic part of the riverbank adding even more kinetics

  • to the Rivers of America.

  • Contrary to popular belief Tom Sawyer Island was not an opening day attraction at Magic

  • Kingdom.

  • It opened in May of 1973, just over a year and a half after the park opened in October

  • of 1971.

  • Now the island is inspired by the characters and stories of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer novels.

  • If youre familiar with the characters from these books, there’s a boy named Joe Harper

  • who’s one of Tom Sawyer’s friends.

  • If you board one of the rafts and head to the island, youll see a sign right beside

  • Harpers Mill that gives you it’s backstory.

  • Tom Sawyer being the good friend he is, named the grist Mill after Joe Harper’s father.

  • So that’s the Tom Sawyer story, but there’s a double meaning to the naming of the Mill.

  • Disney actually named Harper’s Mill after the late Imagineer Harper Goff.

  • He was involved with designing Disneyland’s Main Street and the Jungle Cruise as well

  • as the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

  • So the Harper’s Mill pay tribute to this late imagineer but it’s also home to another

  • hidden secret.

  • Inside the Mill youll see as series of wooden gears that are usually spinning.

  • Here on this large gear youll spot a little blue bird in a nest.

  • Well in 1936 Disney released an animated short called The Old Mill.

  • There was a scene in the film that shows a little blue bird on a wooden gear inside the

  • Mill.

  • So Imagineers hid a little blue bird in Harper’s Mill as a tribute to this classic Disney short!

  • Number 5 Now if youve watched past videos youll

  • know we always point out details on the ground since Disney is well know for creating theming

  • that goes from top to bottom.

  • Frontierland is home to the County Bear Jamboree where a cast of singing Animatronic bears

  • treat you to a musical revue.

  • When you enter the Grizzly Hall lobby, it gives you this warm cozy feeling with the

  • hardwood floors and the pictures of the cast of bears on the wall.

  • Well if you look down at the hardwood floors they seem to be a little scuffed up.

  • Since Grizzly Hall hosts a cast of Bears, naturally they’d enter the hall, sharp nails

  • and all, marking the hardwood floors with their claws.

  • So Disney added the claw marks to the floors.

  • It’s a fun hidden detail that you could definitely miss if you don’t look down or

  • if there’s a lot of people in the waiting area.

  • The bears sure know how to make their mark.

  • Now speaking of the bears, one of the most iconic characters is Big Al

  • and he was actually modelled after an imagineer.

  • Al Bertino was a show writer for many Disney attractions including the Country Bear Jamboree

  • and Big Al was modelled after Al Bertino, name and all.

  • When you look at both Al’s the resemble is uncanny.

  • Bertino passed away in 1996 so Big Al at the Country Bear Jamboree will forever be a reminder

  • of this legendary Imagineer.

  • Number 4- Hidden Tink As you step further into Frontierland it’s

  • hard to miss the 197 foot butte that’s home to Big Thunder Mountain railroad.

  • After youve taken a spin on the wildest ride in the wilderness youre gonna wanna

  • keep your eyes peeled for a little hidden secret at the ride’s exit.

  • Now weve all heard about hidden Mickey’s by now, and if you haven’t we have an entire

  • video explaining the phenomena, but have you ever heard of a hidden Tinkerbell?

  • Well there’s one at Big Thunder Mountain.

  • As you exit the ride, there’s these set of rocks on the left hand side.

  • They look like ordinary rocks with nothing to hide.

  • So if you look right here theres what appears to be a crack in the rock, but when we switch

  • to this angel directly in front, you can see its a side profile of a shilouette of Tinkerbell.

  • There’s no real explanation as to why this Fantasyland character is hidden in the world

  • of cowboys and fur traders, but with some faith, trust and pixie dust anything can make

  • sense at Magic Kingdom.

  • Number 3 There’s nothing quite like the feeling of

  • plunging down Chick a Pin Hill on Splash Mountain.

  • The ride takes you into the world of the Bre’r characters as Bre’r Rabbit tries to find

  • his laughing place.

  • In one of the first indoor show scenes on the ride, you see Bre’r Rabbit leaving his

  • home.

  • It looks small and quaint, perfect for Bre’r Rabbit.

  • Throughout the attraction Bre’r Rabbit realizes he wasn’t cut out for his adventure and

  • in the very last scene of the ride he returns home.

  • Now have you ever thought about what Bre’r Rabbit’s house would look like inside?

  • Well if you ever have, then the answer sits hidden in Frontierland.

  • As you exit Splash Mountain, on the right hand side there’s the Briar Patch gift shop.

  • Inside, there’s an abundant amount of Splash Mountain merchandise but at the back of the

  • shop, hidden on the upper portion of the wall illuminated by these blue lights sits Bre’r

  • Rabbit’s house.

  • On the left hand side there’s what looks to be his dining room nicely decorated with

  • some flowers on the table.

  • Then to the right, there’s his bedroom that has everything from a bed and rocking chair

  • with a mini plush toy to an armour.

  • You can really imagine a little Bre’r Rabbit hoping through this space just going about

  • his daily business.

  • It’s a really fun little hidden secret that many people miss especially considering where

  • it’s placed in the shop.

  • So next time youre on Splash mountain and see Ber’r Rabbit standing outside his house,

  • you know exactly what he’s leaving behind inside.

  • Number 2 One of the most famous Frontiersmen is Davy

  • Crockett Davy, Davy Crockett King of the wild frontier.

  • Davy Crockett is an American folk hero that dates all the way back to the late 1700s and

  • in the 1950s Disney released a Davy Crockett mini series.

  • This series heavily inspired the creation of Frontielrand at Disneyland and the character

  • also went on to inspire Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland.

  • From 1971 until 1994 you were able to paddle along the rivers of America on the Davy Crocket

  • Canoes.

  • The footage you see here is taken from Disneyland where the Canoes still operate today.

  • Even though this is now an extinct attraction at Magic Kingdom there are still references

  • left that pay tribute to the king of the wild frontier.

  • Now Davy Crockett is known for wearing his tan buckskin hunting suit with the iconic

  • coonskin hat.

  • If we take a look at the Frontier Trading post, placed above youll notice some clothes

  • on a clothes line.

  • This tan buckskin suit could very well belong to Davy Crocket and there also appears to

  • be some boots placed on the right hand side.

  • Now theres no way to knowif any of these actually belong to Davey Crocket but he definitely

  • left behind some other belongings that are hidden in Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe.

  • Pecos Bill is a character featured in the 1948 film Melody Time.

  • The restaurant’s backstory is that every time a friend visited Pecos, they left something

  • behind to remember them by.

  • Well naturally Davy Crockett visited Pecos Bill and here in this little section hidden

  • on the back wall of the restaurant youll find items that belong to by Davy Crockett.

  • He left behind his leather bag, powder horn and the iconic coon skin hat.

  • So next time youre grabbing a bite at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe keep an eye out

  • for these Davy Crocket items hidden right in the restaurant.

  • Number 1- Walt Disney Initials.

  • So weve talked about a hidden Tinker Bell but what about a hidden Walt Disney?

  • Now although Disneyland in California has many direct references to Walt Disney himself,

  • Magic Kingdom doesn’t have as many since it built after Walt passed.

  • He didn’t personally touch the park in the same way that he did with Disneyland.

  • But on Tom Sawyer Island there’s one secret that pays tribute to Walt Disney and you need

  • to look really hard to spot it.

  • At the back of the Island youll find Fort Langhorn which originally opened as Fort Sam

  • Clemens.

  • It was changed in 1997.

  • The fort is a fun section of the island with many places to climb and explore, one being

  • the Escape tunnel.

  • Once youre inside this dimly lit corridor it’s a lot of fun to walk through and when

  • you reach the light at the end of the tunnel well this is where youll find a hidden

  • Walt Disney.

  • Do you see it?

  • Yea that’s a W and a D, Walt Disney’s initials.

  • Now obviously Walt Disney himself didn’t engrave the initials since he had already

  • passed away before the island was even built.

  • But some imagineer out there hid this at the end of the escape tunnel as a hidden tribute

  • to man responsible for all the Disney magic.

  • So have you ever noticed any of these hidden secrets and details in Frontierlan?Whats your

  • favourite hidden detail at the park?

  • I’d love to know!

  • Leave a comment down below to start a conversion and don’t forget to hit that like button

  • if you enjoyed the video.

Welcome to TPMvids Disney Beat where we talk about all things Disney!

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